Reversible reclining chair



Oct. 6, 1936.

A. B. BELL.

REVERS IBLE RECLINING CHAIR Filed oct. 15, 1930 Patented Oct. 6, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REVERSIBLE RECLINING CHAIR Massachusetts Application October 15, 1930, Serial No. 488,766

1 Claim.

-This invention relates to chairs, which not only may be reversed to change the facing direction of the seat, but also in which the inclination of the back may be adjusted by the occupant, the

5 invention relating more specifically to chairs adapted for use in railway coaches, busses and tram cars.

An object of this invention is to provide simple, sturdy, `durable and compact mechanism whereby the occupant of the seat may adjust the inclination of the back to any degree of angle desired, and may do so readily and easily, the Imechanism holding the back rmly and steadily in adjusted position, and having no parts projectle ing beneath the seat frame or likely to cause interference with the reversal of the chair.

A further object of this invention is to provide a reversible reclining chair of the character described, which is of sturdy and durable construction throughout, steady and rm in all positions of reversal and adjustment of back, does not rattle, is noiseless during reversal and adjustment, and is capable of withstanding the severe shocks and wear of travel and use in railway coaches,

95 tram cars and busses.

Other objects of this invention will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangements of parts, which will be described more fully hereinafter, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claim that follows.

In order that a clearer understanding of this invention may be had, attention is hereby directed to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application and illustrating certain possible embodiments of this invention.

Referring to the drawing Fig. 1 is a transverse v central sectional view of the seat portion of a chair provided with reclining mechanism embodying this invention, certain parts being broken away and other parts indicated by interrupted lines to more clearly bring out certain details of the construction. Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereof and is taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a sectional View of a detail thereof and is taken on the line 1--1 of Fig. 1. Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, there is a suitable seat frame I3 which supports the arm rests, seat cushions and seat backs, as well as the mechanism for adjusting the inclination of the backs.

There is an arm rest 35 at each end of the seat.

Preferably, there are two separate cushions 31 for each of the two occupants, and there is a seat back 39 for each occupant. A supporting arm 4I is secured to each side of each seat back, as by means of screws 42. Each supporting arm adjacent an arm rest is pivotally mounted on a stud 43, which is mounted on the arm rest by means of a bracket 44, which is secured thereto as by screws 45. At the center of the seat, the adjacent arms 4| are pivotally supported on a l0 stud 46, supported on the seat frame I3. Each arm 4|, adjacent each arm rest, has an extension 49 projecting below the rocking axis of the seat back 39. In the lower end of the arm extension 49 is swiveled a nut 5D, having an extension 5| 15 rotatably mounted in the arm 49 and a protruding threaded end 52, whereby the nut may be Secured to the arm 49 for swivel movement by means of a nut 53 and washer 54. Nut 50 is threaded to receive a threaded rod. 55 which ex- 20 tends upwardly and forwardly in the interior of the arm rest, and at its upper end is connected through a universal joint 56 to a shaft 51, which is journaled in a suitable housing 58 mounted within the arm rest. A helical gear 59 is se- 25 cured to shaft 51 and meshes with a gear 60 carried on a shaft 6l, which is also journaled in housing 58. As indicated in Figure 1, the gear wheel 59 iits in a corresponding recess in the housing 58 so that this gear wheel, together with 30 the shaft 51 and the screw shaft 55, is held by the housing 58 against axial movement. A hand crank 62 is mounted on the inside of the arm rest, preferably by being provided with a nut 63 which threadedly engages the collar 64 of the 35 housing 58, a wire 65 being placed on the hub 66 of the crank handle to prevent separation of the handle and nut 63. A coupling 51, which engages within the hub 66 of the handle and has a square end engaging in a square recess 68 of 40 the shaft 6l, is provided so that when crank handle 62 is turned, the threaded shaft 55 is rotated.

Obviously, rotation of handle 62 in one direction causes the swiveled nut 5l] to travel up the 45 shaft 55 and thus incline the seat back rearwardly, and rotation of the crank 62 in the opposite direction will cause the swiveled nut 50 to travel down the shaft 55 and will raise the seat back. Thus the occupant of the seat may read- 50 ily and easily adjust the inclination of the seat back toi such position as is most comfortable for him by merely rotating the crank 62.

An elongated recess 93 may be provided in the frame member 94 of the seat frame to accom- 55 modate the connection between the back supporting extension 49 and the shaft 55, the end walls of such recess limiting the forward and back movement of the connection and thus determining the maximum movement of the seat back in either direction.

In chairs of the type herein described, the backs always have a substantial angle of rearward inclination, as illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawing wherein the back is shown in or nearly in its extreme upright position. In all p01- sitions of adjustment of the back, gravity tends to rock it rearwardly, this tendency being augmented by rearward pressure .by the occupant when the seat is occupied. .Since the shaft 55 is held against any endwise movement, these forces on the seat back would, if unopposed, result in considerable interfacial pressure between the threads of the shaft 55 and the nut 50, tending to make the operation of the apparatus cli-moult, especially in the event of insuflicient lubricationv of the threads. To avoid this difficulty, means is provided to counteract the rearward force on the seat back and thus to relieve the interfacial pressure on the threads of the nut and shaft. To this end and to eliminate rattling, I preferably aflix a. collar G9 to the nut 50 and another collar 'l0 to the shaft 55, and place a coil spring 'll about the shaft 55 between these collars so that spring 'll becomes compressed as the nut travels up the shaft 55. Y

From the above it is apparent that the occupant of the seat may adjust the inclination of his seat back section to any degree of angle he desires, and is not limited to choosing between a few angles of inclination, The back adjusting mechanism is so constructed and counter-balanced that the occupant may effect the adjustment of the seat back readily and easily.

As many changes may be made in the above construction and as many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention may be made without departing Afrom the scope thereof it is to be understood that all matter contained v in 'the above description or shown in the accompartying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:-N

In Va chair of the character described, a frame, a back Apivotally mounted near' the lower end thereof on sa'id frame and rockable between lim- 'iting .angles of rearward inclination whereby the moment of gravity thereon constantly tends to rock said back rearwardly, means normally locking; said back against rocking .movement :and actuable to ,rock said backl positively ineither direction, said `means comprising an arm on the back projecting` below the rockingv axis thereof, a. nut swivelly mounted on said arm, a rotatable shaft in threaded engagementwith said nut and extending forwardly therefrom, means connected to the forward end of said shaft' and manually actuable to rotate said shaft in either direction, and a spring surrounding said shaft and` vpressing rearwardly against said nut to relieve the interfacial pressure between the threads of said nut and shaft.

ALFRED B. BELL. 

